The Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie review from modmove

LAPDANCE LARRY

SEVENTIES SIMON

PHOTOGRAPHY

COMIC ART

INTERVIEWS

Sub-menu 1.2.1.1

FESTIVALS

EXHIBITIONS

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a film of many contrasts. It’s a very long film based (very loosely) on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It features one of Hollywood’s reigning pretty boys, who you don’t even see sans old-guy make-up until the third or forth reel and the story is about a boy who is born an old man and then spends the entire film getting younger, oh and just for good measure, the movie starts at the end and is then told in flashbacks.

In the hands of a director with less skill than David Fincher, it has all the makings to be a bit of a disaster. Fortunately, Fincher fills the 166 minutes of running time with his usual amazing sense of imagery and uses the acting ability of the always wonderful Cate Blanchett and the increasingly workman-like Brad Pitt to their fullest. It must be noted that Pitt is amassing an impressive list of diverse and interesting projects as his career progresses.

The film tries very hard to be the epic that its running time and cast would lead you to believe and mostly succeeds in that effort. The period it is set in (post World war II to the near present) was one of tremendous social change and that helps to provides a backdrop with depth and complexity for Fincher to work with. His choice of story lines are where some members of the audience might be let down but then it becomes quite impossibly to cover everyone’s favorite tale from that rich time frame.

Looking at the cinema as good value isn’t always easy with so many films that feel so instantly disposable. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button provides lasting value by its thought provoking nature, generous running time and the excellent performances by all the members of its cast and crew.
Rob Hudson
official website


also featured
NEW COMPETITIONS! The Grey Competition Thanks to Icon Film Distribution, we have ten double in-season tickets to give away to The Grey! Read more >> Shame How do you connect with the disconnected? Read more >> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a characteristically British film. Read more >> The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The best thing about this American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that this is Fincher's version of Dragon Tattoo. Read more >> Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol After cutting his teeth on Pixar's The Incredibles, Brad Bird applies his ample talent and requisite enthusiasm for spy thrillers to live action in this, the latest installment in the foundering Mission: Impossible franchise. Read more >> Boxing Day Bash The annual Boxing Day movie feast presents Hollywood approaching the season’s end like it was a big fairy tale wedding with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Read more >> Puss in Boots When a franchise runs out of steam there is always the spin-off. Read more >> Attack the Block The alien invasion genre has been hit particularly hard of late with the likes of Cloverfield, District 13, Battle: Los Angeles and Aliens vs Cowboys, each one more mediocre than the last and culminating in the downright awful Skyline. So kudos to director, Joe Cornish, for at least trying something a little different. Read more >> Immortals As eye candy, Immortals ticks all the right boxes. Read more >> In Time In Time is a competent action/thriller in the Hollywood mould but coming from director, Andrew Niccol, who also wrote and directed Gattaca and wrote The Truman Show, it is disappointingly light. Read more >> Moneyball First the conundrum, I love baseball movies but don’t especially like the game itself and would never even entertain the thought of actually watching an entire game. Read more >>


Stay up to date with modmove news
about modmove
What to know how we got started? Read more >>
read the modmove blog
Check out all the random stuff that didn't make it to the website! Read more >>
contact Us
If you have any queries or if you would like more information about modmove, we would love to hear from you! Read more >>
join our mailing list
subscribe to the mailing list and receive the modmove newsletter. Full Name Email Address Enter Word Verification in box below
search
search modmove for previous news and reviews.